List 50 happy, positive, learn from, laughter making memories & experiences from birth to 50

Quite the challenge, thanks Mum! So I started a list that I have worked on during flights, coffee times and so on. Soon after reaching 50 entries I thought about how to select those that would make the cut. But I couldn't leave any out, it didn't feel right, so I decided to push onto 100.

Here is the list, in no chronological or importance order. I deliberately keep the description short. Enough to trigger a shared memory for those reading, but scant enough to stimulate curiosity in other readers.  Enjoy. I look forward with excitement & anticipation to filling 101-500!

1. The English themed meal, with everyone helping, to celebrate my 50th Spring 2019
2. Our wedding day - All Saints ceremony, Suffolk country reception, the flight to Joburg & brunch then celebratory dinner August 2005
3. Writing thank you cards with Em whilst on honeymoon in Zanzibar Sept 2005
4. Walking through London with Nick, Robin & Beck before our theatre trip Summer 2019
5. Mum's 70th garden party & the preparations together beforehand Autumn 2018
6. Seeing Phebe be born, holding her, announcing the new and giving her first bath Oct 2006
7. Seeing Jonie be born, holding her, and introducing her to Phebe Sept 2009
8. The walnut Christmas present experience with Dad (Christmas sometime in the 80's)
9. Playing wrestling on the old mattress in the garden of Dorchester Road (sometime in the 70's)
10. Receiving my O-Level results and showing Mum & Dad (Summer 1985)
11. Watching Madame Butterfly in the Sydney Opera house with Em, a birthday gift from Johnny C & Cath (Summer 2006)
12. Watching  Phebe & Jonie compete in their annual school "Cross" and "Spartan" race
13. Someone telling me in a pub months later how they'd enjoyed a goal I'd scored for Redbourn Reserves (sometime circa 1997)
14. Dad watching me win an 800m race at West Suffolk Athletic Club (circa 1987)
15. Eating Christmas lunch at the Naked Fisherman on the beach in St Lucia with Em, Phebe & Jonie (and the wave incident) (Christmas 2015)
16. Watching Robin DJ at my birthday party at the Crypt, Trafalgar Sq (circa 1999)
17. Playing beach volleyball with the team (Jamie, Mike, John, Dan, Lee, Matt, Richard) in Ios (Circa 1993)
18. Meeting up with Jamie & Dan at Namco world to watch & talk football (early 2000's)
19. Seeing two Orca whales off the coast of the Garden Route (May 1995)
20. Enjoying the Constantia wine festival with Em and the girls (April 2015)
21. Seeing Radiohead play live at Glastonbury (1997)
22. Watching Bryan Adams sing with a pregnant Em (July 2006)
23. Coming home during the holidays from Sheffield Poly and being greeted by Cider our dog
24. Champagne tasting at the Smith's, with Em (circa 2005)
25. Taking the girls to learn how to swim at the Cruseilles pool, and watching their progress (2010-2015)
26. Snowboarding at Mammoth mountain, California with Jamie (circa 2000)
27. Late night chats with Rob Porter after a shift washing up at the Angel Hotel (circa 1987)
28. Youth hostelling with Uncle Peter, especially Whitby (circa 1985)
29. Having Dad as a helper during school trip to Whitley Bay & Sherringham (circa 1980)
30. Going with Dad to buy fish & chips on a Saturday morning, with the crispy bits (circa 1983)
31. Walking with Elephants with Em, Phebe & Jonie in the Cape (April 2015)
32. Surfing & camping in the Gower with Jamie, Dan, Jim, Mike & Johnny C (circa 2001)
33. Watching Uncle Tom swing Phebe & Jonie around in the Abbey Gardens (circa 2012)
34. Performing on stage at the Theatre Royal in the Gang Show with the family in the audience (circa 1981)
35. Taking the old moped over the fields with Dad, Beck riding off near Barracks(circa 1983)
36. Eating dinner in Copenhagen with Arnaud at Kreb's Garden, updated on the football scores (November 2013)
37. Watching Man Utd's comeback in the Champion's League final 1999 v Bayern Munich
38. Hiring bikes in Munich to tour the English Garden with Em, Phebe & Jonie (2018)
39. Walking around the neighbourhood on various November 5th to see & smella fireworks, Dorchester Road (circa 1980)
40. Deep sea fishing off the West coast of Mexico with Johnny C and spotting first tuna (1993)
41. Hiring electric scooters with Em in Stockholm (2019)
42. Riding in a motorcycle sidecar to tour Beijing, especially the Hutong area (circa 2008)
43. Visiting le cimetière du Père-Lachaise, Paris, a solo Eurostar adventure (circa 1998)
44. Drinking cream soda & reading "Lookin" magazine at Nana and Grandad's bungalow (circa 1984)
45. Organising and completing the "Circle Line rush" with so many friends (circa 1996)
46. Dad teaching me how to hang wallpaper & sand floors at my first home in Hemel Hempstead (circa 1999)
47. Watching any, but especially Athletics) sports with Dad on the TV
48. Running the Escalade with Em (December 2018)
49. Mountain biking after work with Jim, Jamie & Johnny C in the Chilterns (circa 2001)
50. Watching Jonie meet Blackie for the first time (2017)
51. Our cave adventure in Croatia, with cold water, helmets slipping over eyes & kayaks (2018)
52. Exploring the streets of Venice with Phebe (2017)
53. Watching Jonie "scoot" during our Annecy date night (2019)
54. Being there for Ryan Giggs wonder goal versus Arsenal 1999 semi final cup replay, Villa Park
55. Gathering together as siblings with Uncle Peter for Mum & Dad's Silver wedding anniversary photo at St Andrew's church, Hertford 1992
56. Any Christmas day with Mum, Dad and my siblings
57. Announcing we were pregnant with Jonie during my 40th celebration away weekend (2009)
58. Watching Mum meet Phebe & Jonie for the first time (2006 & 2009)
59. Being invited to, and attending Sam & Michelle's wedding - Oratoire then Parc des Eaux Vives Dec 2005
60. The South African braai at our place (circa 2011)
61. Seeing the rooftops of Florence from St Peter's square (circa 2002)
62. Being voted chairman of Siemens Young High Flyers group in Munich (circa 2001)
63. Our family gondola ride in Venice (2017)
64. Swimming with a dolphin at Discover Cove (Oct 2016)
65. Snow shoe walk with colleagues at Cordon & tasting "Crazy Goat" foam drink (circa 2014)
66. New Year's Eve at the Queen's Head the year everyone was there (circa 1990)
67. Eating donuts with the Brumme's in Barcelona (2018)
68. Every time I have ever heard a Welsh male voice choir, "live"
69. Every time I have ever heard a colliery brass band, "live" - I get emotional during both
70. Running the Bury 5km Park Run with Nick & Em (2018)
71. Riding the train from Settle to Carlise with Uncle Peter (circa 1990)
72. The New Year's Eve at Allée Plein Sud we shucked oysters and wore DJ's (circa 2008)
73. The walking tour of London, with Em (circa 2004)
74. Taking Dad on the London Eye & Millenium (wobbly) bridge for his birthday (Summer 2000)
75. Kayaking on Lake Annecy  with Em, the girls, Nick & Rob (Summer 2017)
76. Mum & Dad attending my graduation from Sheffield Poly Autumn 1992
77. Being given the Rupert the Bear LP by Uncle Dennis at his shop (circa 1979)
78. My English teacher, Mrs Pryke, being proud of me for finishing Lord of the Rings (circa 1982)
79. Watching Phebe & Jonie perform in the Charlie Chaplin ballet show (2018)
80. Visiting the old abandoned car in the SA desert with Phebe & Jonie (2015)
81. Any visit to 62 Hertingfordbury Road, especially as a child, running races in lanes
82. Skiing off piste or anywhere, with Phebe & Jonie
83. Watching the Greatest Showman, as a family (2018)
84. Ryan Chan playing our piano, Amy's proposal song (2017)
85. Enjoying the Vitam Parc Roman baths with Em (2018)
86. Phebe's 1st birthday party with our friends in Grand Lancy 2007
87. Snowboarding, albeit too briefly, with Em & Nick (circa 2014)
88. Sledging with the girls on the slope opposite our house, anytime it snowed
89. Laying on the lilo in our pool, listening to my favourite tunes, Sunday afternoons
90. Doing our first escape room with Em, Phebe & Jonie in Geneva (2017)
91. Walking Cider & Scrumpy over the fields with Nick, Rob & Beck (1980's)
92. Going for a pre-dawn jog with Jonie in Dunedin, FL (Oct 2019)
93. Riding the Serpent roller coaster with Phebe at Busch Gardens (Oct 2019)
94. Watching the Doo-wop show as a family at Busch Gardens (Oct 2019)
95. Seeing Atlantis Space Shuttle unveiled at Kennedy Space Center (Oct 2019)
96. Bonfires in the garden at 15 Highbury Road
97. Playing 5-a-side whilst working at ICL, West Gorton (circa 1994)
98. Watching Michael Jackson in concert with Nick & Robin at Wembley (1988)
99. Watching Bruce Springsteen in concert in Geneva with Em (2013)
100. Listening to the Top 40 singles count down on a Sunday night at home with Mum, Dad, Nick, Rob & Beck

Plant a tree, anonymously (sort of)

Challenge: Plant a tree, anonymously, anywhere.

This challenge has been on my mind for some time. Where could I plant a tree, without anyone knowing, and without getting arrested? As some of you may know, I've had my eye on a particular roundabout for some time. I pass it every morning & night, and it looks bare, and in need of a tree. But how do I execute the deed? Do I go all official, wearing a Yellow gilet, and just look confident, assuming people will think I am meant to be there? Or do I turn up early one Sunday morning before sunrise, and risk the police thinking I have an ingenious plan to bury a dead something in the one place no one would ever look?

That particular adventure still awaits.

In the meantime, I took advantage of the wife being away to plant tree(s) anonymously. Given I was the only one who knew the trees were being planted, I take it to count towards the challenge. Although having discussed with the challenger, I know the spirit of this was to grow the tree from seed.

Here we have it. Two trees planted. Fruit bushes to be technically correct. Trees would not be manageable in the small space we have available. The first, a Conference Pear (for eating or cooking, sweet & soft when ripe), the second a cherry Hedelfingen (large, deep Red in colour, sweet and juicy).

The Cherry

 The Pear

Bake a cake (from scratch) - sharing with the church family

Is that really a challenge, I hear you cry?! Well, I think, aside from those cakes you "bake" by mixing all the ingredients and putting them into the fridge you make at school, this is the first ever cake I have truly baked. It's a deficiency I needed to correct. How could one really reach this ripe old age not having fashioned something so simple as a cake?

I quickly discovered it's a more time consuming and difficult process than I had imagined. First, which cake to make? I had one solid criteria - it had to be something that went into the oven, and not just one of those (albeit delicious) fridge concoctions. The go to reference for any Englishman - Delia "lets be 'avin you" Smith (all football fans will appreciate that reference). I thoroughly enjoyed paging through the many cakes all well presented with close up photography. So many cakes, so little time, as my imagination runs wild taking me to dreamy Saturday afternoons cooking up a storm on a regular basis as I work my way through every cake in the book, in order, and seeing friends and family queue up as my baking reputation spreads far and wide.

Cake selected - an iced English Walnut cake. Perfect as we have many walnuts from our single fruit bearing tree in the garden. Is a nut a fruit?
This is the image that attracted me...

Cake selected, I began to shell walnuts. Quite a lengthy process, but fun all the same, to get the required 125g.  Then I followed the recipe as a man does - to the letter, precisely. First the sponges, which were then set aside to cool. Then the icing - and here is where I came a little unstuck. Carefully mixing in the icing sugar to the egg whites and vanilla extract the icing got thicker and thicker. "It's not thick enough yet" my head chef advised, keep going. So I did. Then it was bedtime for the girls, so upstairs to supervise and prayertime. Upon descending once more, I found the icing a little stiff. Should stick - right? It did, but did take a little of the sponge with it as I tried to spread it. Plus I seemed to be a little lacking in quantity. But persevere I did, and finally (most) of the cake was iced. You can judge for yourself below.

But how did it taste? We cut the cake in half, and tasted a little morsel with coffee before church. Not too bad, a little dry maybe, but only a little. Plenty of walnuts coming through, which pleased me. We packed half, and took to church, where Mary laid it out nicely. I trust her opinion. "Tasty, although a little sweet", she said. That works for me!

Am I inspired to bake more cakes? Yes. Will I find the time, lets check back on that.

UK No.1 Hit singles 1969-2018 (pick one from each year)

Thanks bro, this was enjoyable, but certainly not as easy as I thought it would be.

So, whilst convalescing I decided it was the perfect time to tackle this challenge. Little did I know it would take 3 days and much agonizing, plus an end result that I could easily change.

Here's the thing. Just because a single reaches No.1 doesn't mean I like it. Clearly. But when you have to choose from a set list, you have to make some tough choices, and leave a certain amount of integrity behind.

Some were easy, no brainers. The track from 1969 for example. I spent less than 5 seconds thinking about it. 1998 and 2005 were immensely tricky conversely, and resulted in me selecting tracks that I wouldn't necessarily listen to on a regular basis, or even say I particularly liked hugely. But that's the essence of the challenge.

In parallel, I popped each track into a playlist, in case I wanted to while away a few hours wondering why on earth I chose Stay another day by East 17.....

Enjoy.

My list of favourite No. 1 hit singles (UK) from 1969 until 2019

Year	Title	Artist	Why
1969	I heard it through the Grapevine	Marvin Gaye	Because it was No.1 the moment I was born.
1970	Band of Gold	Freda Payne	Close call with Tears of a Clown
1971	Maggie May	Rod Stewart	Great intro, and reminds me of Dad
1972	Without you	Nilsson	Great ballad that still works
1973	Blockbuster	Sweet	So close with Mr Glitter I love you love me
1974	Sugar Baby Love	The Rubettes	Closely followed by Waterloo
1975	Oh Boy	Mud	So many contenders!
1976	Under the moon of love	Showaddywaddy	I loved their dance steps on TOTPs
1977	Mull of Kintyre	Wings	I remember singing this on  way to school
1978	Rivers of Babylon	Boney M	It seemed to be No. 1 for ever (5 weeks)
1979	Are “friends” electric?	Tubeway Army	I’d never seen or heard anything like this
1980	The Tide is High	Blondie	It reminds me of Chris Cocksedge
1981	Making your mind up	Bucks Fizz	Simply because it was first 45 I bought
1982	Do you really want to hurt me	Culture Club	Goombay Dance Band, Ebony & Ivory, Musical Youth, Survivor, Fame….
1983	Wherever I lay my hat	Paul Young	In a great year, I couldn’t stop playing this
1984	Careless Whisper	George Michael	If it were videos, Band Aid
1985	Into the Groove	Madonna	Endures well. Last minute switch with 19
1986	Sun always shines on TV	AHA	I love the way it builds
1987	I just can’t stop lovin’ you	MJ & Siedah G	I waited and waited for this first single post Thriller
1988	Theme from S-Express	S-Express	I liked dancin’ to this one 4 sure
1989	Ride on Time	Black Box	Another one that got me to the dancefloor
1990	Show me Heaven	Maria McKee	Another soppy one
1991	Don’t let the sun go down	George & Elton	The live version was spine tingling
1992	Would I lie to you	Charles & Eddie	I remember Mum & Dad liking this too
1993	I’d do anything for love	Meatloaf	Sorry DJ Jazzy Jeff. Such a story of a song!
1994	Stay another day	East 17	I can still see the fake snow falling in the vid
1995	Some might say	Oasis	Swagger
1996	Breakfast at Tiffany’s	Deep Blue Something	This song has always got under my skin
1997	MMMBop	Hanson	Close between No Doubt but this reminds me of my brothers bizarrely
1998	If you tolerate this	Manic Street Preachers	Stands out in this poor musical year
1999	She’s the one	Robbie Williams	I love the piano melody in the background
2000	Beautiful day	U2	No real strong favourite
2001	Survivor	Destiny’s Child	Strong lyrics & beats
2002	If you’re not the one	Daniel Beddingfield	Bit soppy but the lyrics endure
2003	Crazy in Love	Beyonce & Jay Z	Sorry Christina A… so powerful from the go
2004	Burn	Usher	Not for the lyrics, for the amazing voice
2005	Dakota	Stereophonics	Had forgotten it, but best of poor bunch
2006	I don’t feel like dancin’	Scissor Sisters	Got me dancing..!
2007	I’m gonna be 500 miles	Proclaimers	Easy choice, eternal
2008	If I were a boy	Beyonce	Thought provoking & great voice
2009	I gotta feeling	Black eyed  peas	Nice build up
2010	Just the way you are	Bruno Mars	Close with Matt Cardle
2011	Someone like you	Adele	The relentless piano background gets me every time
2012	Little Things	One Direction	Cup of tea…best lyric
2013	Wrecking Ball	Miley Cyrus	Just a tune that gets stuck in my head
2014	Stay with me	Sam Smith	I do like his voice
2015	Hello	Adele	Another cracker
2016	Say you won’t let go	James Arthur	We enjoyed following his progress X Factor
2017	Perfect	Ed Sheeran	Another slow one with feeling
2018	Shotgun	George Ezra	Refreshingly different